The Obituary of Cliff Webley (1925 -2004)

Cliff Ty Coch

1925 -2004

Clifford Martin Webley born on 10th February 1925 in Port Talbot to Albert James and Tydfil Webley. Albert was a general trader. He has one sister and two brothers, Rona and John were older than him and Glyn was the youngest.

Cliff contracted polio at the age of two and a half and spent many years in hospital, view a disability that undoubtedly shaped his character and outlook on life.

He started in the pub trade by accident. He had won a small amount of money on the pools and he and a friend went on holiday to Majorca.

While he was there he ran out of money and a kind woman called Mabs Chadwick lent him enough to clear his bar bill.

On his return home he contacted her to repay the debt and she offered him a job at the Swallow Falls Hotel in Betws Y Coed.

From there they went to Llandudno and bought a hotel on the seafront.

Eventually they went into business with Mabs’ sister Edith and her husband Tommy Matthews at the Nanhoron Arms Hotel in Nefyn.

In October 1968 he took over as landlord of The Ty Coch Inn, Porthdinllaen.

He survived that first cold winter on a diet of Guinness and lob scouse, topped up daily with whatever he could lay his hands on - times were hard then.

In 1969 Brione worked for him for the summer season and subsequently fell in love, in 1973 they married.

In 1978 their beloved son Stuart was born and they continued life at Porthdinllaen.

Cliff and Brione worked hard to build the thriving business that is the Ty Coch today.

Despite Cliffs absence from the bar for several years due to his illness and fragility, he was very much a part of the decision making process of the business right up to his last day.

Most people will remember Cliff on one side of the Ty Coch bar or the other.

He loved to sit at the bar and laugh, joke and put the world to rights with the friends and acquaintances who had become to know and love him over the years but always with one eye on the till and the sales.

Cliff loved to hear laughter in his pub and the occasional bit of music although he cringed when a pub full of folk on a New Years eve would sing "Nellie the Elephant" and have the joists over the cellar creaking.

It was great to see him take his guitar off the wall, he was no Eric Clapton but he had a sweet voice and could "croon" with the best of them, many ladies were weak at the knees after hearing his version of "Begin the beguine" !

Latterly, his infirmity confined him to indoors or short periods in his wheelchair on the path in front of his house or in the place he loved most, his little garden or, as he called it, his bower, again he was always happy to chat with old friends as they passed by.

Many times over the last few years, Cliff was taken ill. Whilst doctors shook their heads and looked grave and friends thought they had seen the last of him, he seemed to defy medical science and kept going. This was surely due to his fighting spirit combined with the fantastic tender love and care that only Brione could have given him.

Sadly, on the morning of 3rd August 2004, Cliff passed away in his sleep.

His funeral took place on the 11th August 2004 on the beach at Porthdinllaen.

It was a testament to a great man that the Porthdinllean Lifeboat was launched and moored in the bay and over 300 people turned up, from all over the country to pay their last respects to....

Contact Us

JavaScript is currently disabled.Please enable it for a better experience of Jumi.

We use cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of the site have already been set. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.